MONTICELLO — The Monticello Public Library hosted fishing with the DNR on Wednesday, July 19, where fishery technicians caught fish in Little Sugar River and taught youth about what they caught.

Monticello Public Library director, Brenda Massei, got inspiration for this event sitting in her office, which outlooks the river. 

“I know the kids in town love fish and learning about them,” Massei said. “Anything we can do to promote that is great. Seeing the kids hold the fish and giggling is rewarding.”

Fishery technician Mitchell Trow, an Albany native, and his crew caught close to 10 different species of fish, which included brown and rainbow trout, green sunfish, brook strickleback and sucker fish. The river is also home to northern pike.

Trow showed the kids each fish and explained its habitat, diet and likeliness to be caught while fishing. Kids had the opportunity to hold each fish and measure them, if so desired.

“I like seeing the kids getting introduced to fishing because as a kid, I liked doing it,” Trow said. “Hopefully when they get older, they will still like to do it.”

The Monticello Public Library has additional events planned for the summer including Introduction to Beekeeping on July 25, Campfire Tales on July 26 and Cops ‘n Bobbers on Aug. 5. For more information, visit their website monitcellopubliclibrary.org or call 608-938-4011.